Pro Tools 11 Will Tell Us Who Avid Want To Sell To

We should have got some clues from the release of Pro Tools 10, but it is likely that Pro Tools 11 will show us even more clearly which customers Avid are targeting.

Our guess is that Pro Tools 11 will have more for the professional and less for the hobbyist. The last 2 years have shown Apple heading for the self-sufficient enthusiast creative (as one commentator put it ‘the 5D movie maker’) whereas Avid are heading for the collaborative, workflow-focussed professional.

So we guess it will have less musical cup holders and heated seats, and more audio airbags and MPG. In other words, it will have stuff that makes a real difference day-in-day-out for the audio coalface pro, and less for those who just want to see what happens when they use ‘this cool feature’. On the other hand, our guess is that Logic 10 will be, as with every other Apple product, brimming with creative candy.

One sounds dull and the other sounds exciting; at face value one could think that - however it shows that Apple are making a deliberate choice, and Avid are too.

The other clue will be in the price. We have no information to suggest it but our guess is that Apple will be selling at a price most can afford and Avid at a price that is aimed at the professional. What is interesting is Avid’s decision to let inMusic sell Pro Tools Express with their interfaces - this is a smart move. It lets a company who understand the creative consumer better than most put Pro Tools in the hands of their vast tribe of Alesis, Akai and M-Audio lovers. At the same time it introduces Pro Tools to the next generation of musical creatives who Avid were having a hard time connecting with.

Before anyone wants to take exception to the idea of Avid wanting to aim their products at professionals, they are not the first. Autodesk and Quantel are just two companies who have made their choice for this market.

At least it may help make a choice of DAW easier. Logic as the ultimate music creation app and Pro Tools the killer audio tool. For those who know their history of both products it’s funny how they seemed to be returning to their roots. Some of our team already own both Logic and Pro Tools, they both have their merits, in future it may be much clearer.

Of course, this is all conjecture - we could be wrong. But watch this space. It may be easier to make your DAW of choice in the future - the decision may be be made for you.